Page 6 of City of Sin (Men of Manhattan 1)

"He sounds awful."

Marie laughed. "He's actually super awesome. And I told him all about you. He can't wait to meet you. You have a date tomorrow night at 8."

"Wait, what?"

"It's already set."

"I'm not going on a date tomorrow night. I have plans."

"Plans to watch T.V. alone in your apartment?"

"Why does everyone think that's all I do?"

"Because you do it a lot."

"Okay, fine. I like binge watching awesome T.V. shows. Is that so wrong? And I do have plans. I'm going to go to a bar with Kendra tomorrow night." Maybe.

"No, you're going on a super awesome date with Mason tomorrow night. Which you won't regret because he's great."

"Great? I doubt that. What's wrong with him? Why would he agree to go on a blind date? No one does that. That's like the most awkward thing ever. He's probably a serial killer."

"People do it all the time. He's not a serial killer. He's a successful, handsome, businessman."

"Yeah, well I don't like successful, handsome, businessmen. You know that." I bit my lip. I didn't want to think about Patrick. Stop thinking about Patrick!

A buzzing noise sounded in the apartment.

"That would be the pizza," Marie said and stood up. "Just think about it, okay, Bee?"

No. "Okay."

Carter got up and answered the door as Marie grabbed some plates.

"What do you want to drink?" Marie asked. "White or red?" She held up two bottles of wine.

"White's good."

***

I was on my second glass of wine. The more I drank, the more I started to think about Patrick. I always tried to be good around Carter. It was awkward that he was still friends with Patrick. I knew they hung out. I ran my thumb along the spot where my engagement ring used to be. I just needed to know something. Anything. "Have you seen Patrick recently?" I looked up at Carter.

He glanced at Marie and then back at me. "Yeah, we usually catch the Giants games together. I saw him last weekend."

"Oh. Cool. How is he doing?" I tried to hide the eagerness in my voice. I hadn't heard from Patrick in months. I just wanted to know if he was still hurting too. Time was supposed to heal you. But I still felt broken. I was worried that I always would. Just thinking about him made me want to cry. I took a huge sip of my wine.

"He's good, Bee."

"Good. That's really great. I'm glad he's good."

We were all quiet for a minute.

"So when you say good..." I let my voice trail off. "Is he seeing anyone right now?" That's what I really wanted to know. I wanted to know if he had moved on.

"What does seeing someone even mean these days? Am I right?" Marie laughed awkwardly.

"Does that mean he is?"

"Bee. It's been six months," Marie said. "You need to move on too."

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